Infant Toddler Development TrainingModule 5, Lesson 5

Introduction

Building good relationships with families and professionals is the key to developing collaborative partnerships. The benefits of these partnerships are no more evident than when the team meets to develop the outcomes for the Individualized Family Support Plan (IFSP). If there is good communication, the family can express the concerns and priorities they want addressed. If professionals can listen to those and can incorporate them into functional outcomes, then services will be provided in such a way that the family, the professionals, and the child will be involved in positive and productive growth.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

Articulate the family's role in developing/determining outcomes.

Discuss the importance of 'strength-based' perspectives.

Describe the responsibilities of families and professionals in the development of outcomes.

Recognize functional, routine-based outcomes with families and other professionals linked to assessments and developmental skills.

Describe:

Information gathering techniques

Observations

Surveys and rating scales.

Describe criteria for evaluating functional outcomes for the child and the family.

Discuss strategies when competing outcomes or goals emerge among team members (including families).

Describe the skills necessary to be an effective listener.

Resources

The following resources are those necessary for the completion of this lesson. Learners may want to access and print hard copies of the resources prior to beginning the lesson and for future reference. Some resource documents can be found in the Resource Bank. Others are available online.